Sheet separating and moving device.



E. CHESHIRE.

SHEET SEPARATING AND MOVING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-9,1909. RENEWED MAY 29, 1915.

1,145,403. Patented July 6, 1915. I

3 SHEETS-SHEET I- E. CHESHIRE.

SHEET SEPARATING AND MOVING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 9. 1909. RENEWED MAY 29. 1915.

Patented July 6, 1915.

I} SHEETSSHEET 2.

E. CHESHIRE.

SHEET SEPARATING AND MOVING DEVIC-E. APPLICATION FILED Nov. 9, 1909.RENEWED MAY 29. 1915.

1,145,403. Patented July 6, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

tion,

.ing device.

reference is to be I had UNITED. STATES PATENT onnicn WISCONSIN,ASSIGNOR TO MILLER SAW OF ALMA, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION SHEET SEPABATINGAND MOVING DEVICE.

originalapplication filed July 22, 1909, Serial No. 508,896. Divided andthis application filed November 9,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 6, 1915.

1909, Serial No. 527,004. Renewed May 29, 1915. Serial No. 31,312.

To all whom it may conoem":

Be it known that I, EDWARD Cnnsmnn, a citizen of the United States,residing at Mllwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State ofWisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Sheet Separatingand Moving Devices, of which the following is a full, clear, concise,and, exact descripreference being had to the accompanying drawing,forming a part of this specification. v

My invention relates to automatic sheet separating and moving devices,and particularly to devices for separating thetopsheet from theremainderof a pile and pushingit forward to be seized bylan automatic feed- Theobject of my i'nvention'is the provision of an improvedrdevicecharacter, and one which will beeflicient, certain and regul'arin itsoperations.

The embodiment of. my invention wh ch will be described below hasfibeendescribed and illustrated in m copending application Serial No. 508,896,filed July. 22, 1909, Faper feeding and handling devices, of which thisapp ication is a division.

--For an understanding of theinvention,

scription taken iniconnection with. the acco'mpanying drawings, whichshownfa. device illustrating the principal features of. theinvention,'and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device Fig. 2 is a rear elevation;Fig. 3 is a plan; Fig.4 is a view similar to a portion of Flg. 1,butwith the parts in a different position; Fig. 5 is a partly septionaldetached view drawn to anenlarged scale, illustrating the sheet liftingshoe and related parts in still another position; and Figs. 6 and 7 arean inverted plan and a perspective view respectively, illustrating-theform and operation of the sheet-lifting shoe.

The invention is shown in the drawings as used in connection with anautomatic feeder forplaten presses, but this is only one of a number ofpossible applications and is used for purposesof illustration merely.

Referring now to the drawings; D 'is. a

table for supporting the pile of paper.

This table is slidably'mounted in the feed of the above I tothefollowing debox by means ofa pillar D which slides in a. guide D. Anintermittent upward movement is imparted to the table D at the removalof each sheet from the pile, the efiect being that the top of the pileis maintained at a constant level. The mechanism by which the movementof'the table D is effected forms the subject matter of my copendingapplication Serial No. 527,003, filed November 9, 1909.

In the device illustrated the feed box has H detachably mounted thereona hood F which carries the operating parts of the feeder. Slidablymounted in lugs Gr (Figs. 2 and 3) extending inwardly from the sides ofthe hood F are a. pair of pins G which are car- .ried by a presser barGr, compression springs G? being inserted between thepresser bar -andthe lugs G which springs tend to hold the presser bar in its lowermostposition, i. e. against the upper edges of the feed box. 'When thepresser bar Gr is in its lowermost position; and a pile of paper-is inplace upon the table. D", the presser bar G presses upon the paper alongthe front edge thereof and forms a stop against which the'pile of stockis intermittently moved, as described above. Cams G, mounted on arotating shaft F are provided for intermittently raising the pre sserbar and allowing one of the sheets of paper upon the pile to be-mo'vedforward. These cams each have a projection thereon, which projectionsengage the rollers of cam le'vers G which are pivoted to the hood and"the'ends of which engage in notches in the pins G As the cams Grevolve, therefore, the levers G are operated to raise the presser barand allow the paper to be moved outward beneath it.

The sheet separating mechanism proper H is actuatedby means of a bellcrank lever H rockably supported in the hood F adjacent thecenter of thefront end thereof. Movement is imparted to the bell crank lever H bymeans of'a cam H secured to the shaft F The cam H is formed with a smallstarting hump H and the configuration of the remainder of the cam issuch that a slight forward'movement is imparted to the bell crank leverby the hump H and, after the bell crank lever has remained stationaryfor a short time, a. considerable further forward movement is efiected.The bell? crank levers then remains stationary for a period and isafterward allowed by the cam to re: turn to its original position, suchreturn being efiected by a spring H The. slight preliminary movementcaused by the hump H causes the sheet lifting shoe to operate.

Suitably secured to the hood is a bracket H to which is pivoted at H ahorizontal rod H 'carr'ying on its outer end a block H which carries thesheet lifting device. The rod H is provided with a lug H having thereina segmental slot H through which passes a pin H carried by the bracket,which in serves to limit the movement of the rod H about its pivot H Theblock H is adjustably mounted upon the rod H "so that to provide for theuse of various sizes of sheetsof paper and carries a bent end stop H,the block H being adjusted upon the rod H so that the end stop H presseslightly against the rear of the-pile of paper. Pivoted to the upper partof the block H is a link H having pivoted to the outer end thereof thepneumatic lifting shoe H. The link H is'provided with a.projection' Harranged to be engaged and moved by a block H secured to a movable rod Hfwhich derives its movement from the bell crank lever EU, to which itisconnected through the intermediary of an arm I, as will hereinafter bedescribed. Rockably supported in the block H is a spindle H carrying ateach. end a lever to which is secured a paper separating dog H. Thespindle H is -formed with a projection H thereon which engages in arecess H formed in the lower side of the block H so that the latter, inits forward and backward movements, will intermittently rock the spindleH- to raise and lower the dogs H The lifting shoe H is provided with arear plate H" the ends of which extend slightly downward (Fig. 7) andbehind which the dogs H engage when they are raised. As-

the block H is moved forward by reason ofthebell crank lever H beingmoved by the hump H of the cam H and the rod H being consequently pulledforward, it engagesthe projection H and thus raises the lifting shoe Hto lift a sheet of paper. The pivot of the lifting shoe being locatednear the rear edge thereof, this edge will rise first so that the paperwill be lifted from its rear edge, which is desirable. Just as theshoe Htakes its uppermost position, it strikesrods H and H and isthereby againbrought into parallelism with the top ofthe pile of sheets. Practicallyat the same time. as the shoe H is raised the rear face of the recess Hengages against the projection H of the spindle H and efiects adownward. rocking movement thereof to lower thedogs H, the result beingthat these dogs slip downwardly and forwardly the counter shaft F ever,the sheet has had time to ie/ oe rear pint H and enter beneath thelifting shoe before the sheet of paper lifted thereby has had time to.fall, and en gages the top of the second sheet to h old it In order thatthe shoe H may be enabled I to perform the above described'liftingoperation its lower face is formed with a plurality of concentricconnected circular grooves H (Fig. 6) and with a central hole Hcommunicating by means of a hose H with a pump H actuated by a cam onJust as the shoe H is being lifted, the pump is actuated by its cam tocreate a suction in the hole H and concentric'grooves H gs that, as theshoe is raised, a sheet of paper will be pneumatically gripped therebyand raised with it. Immediately after the sheet. has been raised themovement of the. pump is reversed a'nd consequently the sheet falls.

reach the pile again the dog s H haveentered beneaththe lifting shoe andthe sheet of quently falls with its rear edge Before-how paper-' conseeresting upon the points of these dogs whereby it is separated from theremainder of the ile. The dogs H press upon the pile of s ockSuficiently hard to prevent the removal-of any other sheets of paperwhen the separated sheet is withdrawn, the pressure being maintained by,the flat face of the member H at the rear of the notch H.

In order to prevent the lifting foot H from raising two sheets at onceowing to the paper being drawn. into the concentric grooves H andthereby creating a suction upon the second sheet of paper in the pile, Iform a slight depression H (Figs. 6 and 7 between the rear edge .of thelifting shoe and the circular grooves H The efiect of this'isclearly'shown inllig. 7. "When the top sheet is sucked against the shoe itadapts itself to the configuration of the lower surface thereof andtherefore creates a small passage between itself and the next cur duringthe slight movement of therod H due to the hump H efl ecting thepreliminary movement of the" bell crank le-. ver H While the aboveoperations'have been g ing on the sheet pushing device has begun its,movement. The sheet pushing device is constructed as follows: An arm Iisattached to the free end of the bell crank lever H by means -of afriction joint and carries at its end a cross bar I to which areattached 1o friction disks I arranged to engage the topsheet of paperand move it forward. It is to this arm I that the rod H is pivotallyconnected, as at H?" (Fig. 4:). When the bell crank lever is in itsupper'and rearinost 15 position, e., just before it is operated byppsition shown in Fig. 5. When the hump begins to press upon the rollerof the bell crank lever H the lever I is moved downward until the crossbar I presses upon the top of the spacing pin I andrea neau ingt eremainder of therewit .movement of the bellcrank lever, the arm-- Iatthe same time rocking about its -frictio nal' connection;. "By-"thismeans, a uniform distance between .the cross bar and the "top of thespacingpinl at the beginning of the operation is msured.

Just 'before the I above operations takeplace the projections ,of thecams G will haweepemted the cam levers G to raise the pins G andthereforethe presser bar G to enable the sheet to bepushed out in front.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as newand'd"secureby,Let-

ters Patent, is:

' 1. Mechanism for separating-the top sheet from a pile of-sheetsandmoving ittoward a feeding device, co'mprising'means for separating thetop sheet from the remainder of the pile, means for subsequently enggi'n the separatedsh'eet and moving it forward,

and a spacing device for engaging said sheet moving means at the firstpart of its'movement, thereby to prevent said sheet moving.

, begins to move the bell crank lever H again.

mains in that position until the cam H means from engaging the top sheetuntil the latter has been released by the separating device. 2.Mechanism for displacing the top sheet from a pile of sheets,comprising-a pivoted member, means for intermittently rocking 95 Whenthis occurs, the lever I will be forced i to rock about its frictionalpivot until the cross bar I slips off the spacing pin I and movesdownward to engage, by means of the friction disks I, the top sheet ofpaper and move it forward into the position shown in Figs. 1 and 3 to beseized by thefeed grippers or the like, it being remembered 5that'before the'cross bar I moves from above the spacing pin,'thelifting shoe and dogs willhave separated a sheet in the manner describedabove. The spacing pin' 1 exactly determines the time at which the 40friction disks will strike the paper and the distance forward throughwhich it will be moved, regardless of buckling of the paper, should anyoccur.

' lVhen the above operations have taken place, and a'sheet of paper hasbeen moved forward and removed by suitable grippers or the like,according to the type of ma-"' chine with which the device is beingused, and when the' cam H has rota-ted far enough, the'bell crank leverH will be returned to its original position by means of the spring H,and the lifting shoe and related parts will resume the position shown inFig. 5. During the-first part of the return movement of the bell cranklever H the cross bar I will be raised, and the friction disks I will belifted from'the paper, the stiffness of the friction connection be tweenthe arm I and the bell crank lever being sufficient to effect this.After the cross bar I has been raised to a predetermined extent, furtherlifting isprevented by the engagement of a pin I with which the arm I isprovided, with the under side of the rod H. The pin I will then slideagainst the said member'tow'ard and away from the pile,

- a sheetengaging and moving device pivoted sheet from a pile of sheets,apneumatic sheet lifting shoe-having a plurality of suction spaces inits lower surface and having a depression extending rearwardly fromsaidsuctlon'spaces, and means for operating sa1d shoe, said operatingmeans and said shoe belng so arranged that the shoe extends inwardlyfrom the edge of the pile'of sheets for the purposes set forth.

4. Mechanism for separating the top sheet 7 from a pile of sheets,comprising a pneumatic sheet lifting shoe having a suction orificetherein and formed with a plurality of grooves connecting with saidsuction orifice and with a depression extending rear- I wardly from saidgrooves, and said shoe beingdisposed so as to extend inwardly from 'therear edge of the pile of sheets, for the purposes set forth.

.5. Mechanism for separating the top sheet from a pile of sheets,comprising a pneumatic sheet lifting shoe arranged adjacent tothe rearedge of the pile of sheets, means for moving said shoe down to engagethe top sheet and upward to lift the same, and

a loosely mounted separating member arranged tobear against said shoe'when the latter is in its lower positionand to enter beneath the shoewhen the latter-is raised,

- for the purposes set forth.

. 6. Mechanism for separating the top sheet from a pile of sheets,comprising a pneumatic sheet liftingshoe arranged adjacent to the rearedge ofthe pile of sheets, means for moving said shoe down to engage thetop Sheet and upward to lift the same, a loosely mounted separatingmember arranged to bear agamstsaidshoe when the latter is in its lowerposition and to enter beneath the with the top of the pile.

, for moving said shoe downward to engage the top sheet and upward tolift the same, said shoe being provided with guide ways on its rearface, and a loosely mounted separating member arranged to bear againstsaid guide Ways when'the shoe is in its lower position, and-t0 enterbeneath the shoe when the latter is raised.

. 8. Mechanism for separating the top sheet.

- from a pile of sheets, comprising a' support.

a substantially horizontal .arrn pivoted. to sald support, means forrocking said arm about its pivot, and a pneumatic sheet lifting shoepivoted to said arm toward the rear edge of said shoe, so that uponsaidarm being rocked to lift said shoe, the rear edge of the latter willbe lifted first.

9. Mechanism for separating the top sheet from a pile of sheets,comprising a support, a substantially horizontal arm pivoted to saidsupport, means for rocking said arm about its pivot, a pneumatic sheetlifting .ing means.

messes shoe pivoted to said arm toward the rear edge of said shoe, sothat upon the arm be 4 ing rocked to lift said shoe, the rearedge of-the latter will" be lifted first, and means for engaging said liftingshoewhen in its uppermost position to bring it intoparallelism withfthetop of the pile of sheets.

10. Mechanism for separating the top support, an arm pivoted to saidsupport, a pneumatic sheet lifting shoe pivoted to said arm, means forimparting a rocking movement to saidarm to raise and lower said shoe, alever pivoted to said support, means for impartinga rocking movement tosaid lever in an opposite direction to the movement' of said arm, a dogpivoted to said lever, and means for limiting the'movement of sheet froma pile of sheets, comprising a said dog relatively to'said lever,saiddog' and said lever being so disposed that said dog bears upon thetop of the pile of sheets when said lever is in one of its positions,and

engages behind the said pneumatic shoe .7

when said lever is in its other position.

11. Mechanism for separating. the top I sheet from a pile of sheets andmoving it toward a feedlng device, comprising a pneumatic sheet liftingdevice, a sheet moving device, arranged to operate after the top sheethas been lifted by said lifting device, means for engaging the top ofthe pile beneath the lifted sheet and clamping the same againstmovements, and means, controlled by said sheet moving device, forlocking said clamping means in its operative position during themovement of a sheet by said sheet mov- In, Witness whereof, I havehereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

' EDWARD CHESHIRE. Witnesses:

FRANK M. BRUCE,

- FRANKH. PETRm.

